Chapter 9
“Ring…ring…ring…”
The phone rang several times and Lance was starting to lose hope that the call would work, when he heard a very familiar voice sound over the crackly line.
“Hello?” a tired sounding Johnny spoke.
“Oh my gosh, you have no idea how great it is to hear the sound of your voice!” Lance exclaimed excitedly.
“Lance, is that you? Where are you guys?” Johnny replied. “I was notified by the captain of the cruise you were on that you guys had jumped ship. What’s going on?”
“These guys were after us, and they were going to hijack the boat so we abandoned the ship in a life raft and they followed us, and we’ve ended up on this island and they are still after us! You’ve got to help us! No one speaks English here!” Lance said in one breath. He took a deep breath and ran his hand through his spiked blond hair.
“Woah, slow down a sec would you? Now where exactly are you?” Johnny asked. If he was going to try and find help for them he had to calm Lance down and find out as much as possible about their location.
“We have no idea where we are! We drifted in the raft overnight through a big storm, and we ended up here. We thought the island was deserted, but on the other side we found this little village. Johnny you’ve got to hurry though! Those guys are after us, and they aren’t too far behind. Who knows what they want from us, and what they’ll do if they get a hold of us.”
“Calm down Lance, I’m on it. We know the basic location where you guys jumped ship, and there are only a few islands around that area. I’ll notify the police and the coast guard about your situation. Don’t worry, we’ll find you guys.”
“Thanks Johnny, just hurry. What should we do in the mean time?”
“I want you guys to go back into the town, and find some place to lay low. Try and find the police or the authorities there. They’ve got to have someone who can help you.”
“Ok. We have Monica’s cell phone, but it probably won’t work. The only reason it’s working right now is because we are standing next to a radio tower, but the signal is pretty weak.”
“That’s great! Maybe we can use the phone’s signal to track you guys. Sit tight Lance, this will all be over soon,” Johnny reassured him.
As Lance hung up he let out a huge sigh of relief. He turned to his friends who were waiting anxiously to find out what Johnny had told him.
“Well?” Justin asked impatiently.
“Johnny said he’s going to try and find out where we are, and in the mean time, we are supposed to go back to town and try to find the police,” Lance replied.
“Well, we’d better be careful. Those guys are back there some where,” Keeley replied. She knew they weren’t out of trouble yet. It could take Johnny a long time to find out where they were. She knew he was a resourceful guy, but there was a limit to what he could do.
The group cautiously made their way back into town to try and find help once more. When they reached the edge of the small town they carefully looked around to make sure the coast was clear.
Johnny tapped his fingers impatiently while he waited on hold. The cheesy instrumental version of “I Want You Back” flowed into his ears and he chuckled at the irony of the song. Finally after what seemed like hours he finally was able to reach a live person.
“Coast Guard,” a firm voice said.
“Hello, my name is Johnny Wright. I spoke to someone earlier about some kids that had abandoned their cruise ship in a life raft. I have a little more information on their whereabouts but I need your help.”
Johnny quickly relayed all the information he knew to the man. The coast guard promised to put out a bulletin, and try to pinpoint their location. As he hung up Johnny said a silent prayer that he would find them before the men who were after them did.
Jerry has just come back to the hanger after making his delivery. He was rather tired and was starving. He calmly walked into the small cafeteria where several other pilots were gathered eating their lunches. He placed his money in the snack machine and got a ham and cheese sandwich, some Doritos, and a Pepsi. When he had gathered up his lunch, he proceeded to look around the room.
“Yo Jerry! Come sit over here,” Pete yelled across the room. Jerry smiled and walked over towards where Pete, his long time friend and flying colleague, was sitting.
“Long time, no see buddy. What’s up?”
“Well I was just telling the guys about an interesting news bulletin that came over the radio not to long ago,” Pete said and then took another bite into his sandwich.
“Oh yeah? What was it?” Jerry asked now curious. Pete was still chewing so Jerry decided he had time to take his first bite of his food.
“You know that pop group back from the States called Nsync I think it is?” To this Jerry simply nodded and took another bite of food. “Well it turns out that the five of them and three of the guy’s girls went on a cruise. While they were on the cruise they discovered that these three guys were after them trying to kidnap them for some reason.”
“Why?” Jerry mumbled, his mouth still full of food.
“No one knows. Well anyway, they jumped ship and the eight of them made it to some island nearby here.” Jerry who was just taking a big gulp of this drink let this news sink it. Then it suddenly hit him what was going on. The news shocked him so much he spit his drink everywhere. A good portion of it when on Pete’s shirt.
“What the heck was that for?” Pete asked he jumped up and started trying to dry off his shirt.
“What did you say about 8 kids?” Jerry almost stuttered.
“I said that there are 8 missing kids. They ended up somewhere around here but no one is sure quite where. Their manager has notified the Coast Guard, and the Coast Guard put out a bulletin about it.” Jerry continued to stare dumbfounded at Pete.
“How do they know all this if they don’t know where they are?”
“Somehow they found a radio tower and one of the guys used his girlfriend’s cell phone to call their manager.”
“Ok…see here is the thing. I think I just saw those kids. They were standing on a cliff on the next island over. They were jumping up and down waving. I thought they were just having fun. Thought they were just island kids. Crap I didn’t realize!”
“Dude chill out. Just go call Johnny, their manager. Tell him what you know! From the way it sounds, those kids need help now!”
The town looked pretty dead. There were a couple people meandering about, but for the most part it looked pretty deserted.
“Coast’s clear guys,” Joey whispered. He cautiously stood up and made his way out into the sun. The rest of the group followed, their eyes darting around in fear. They slowly walked down the street gazing into the shop windows to find what resembled a police station.
“They’ve got to have some kind of law enforcement,” Chris muttered as they passed another store with no luck.
They were reaching the center of town. Monica walked over to the next building and cupped her hands around her eyes and peered curiously into the window. “Hey guys, I think this might be it,” she exclaimed. The rest came to join her and took a look.
“I think you’re right Mon,” JC said. He quickly walked over to the big wooden door and pulled it open.
They gazed around at the little police station. It was pretty basic. There was a receptionist desk, and a little hall that seemed to lead to the empty jail cells. To their left was a small office. The place looked deserted. Justin walked over towards the desk and cleared his throat loudly. A few moments later a tall dark-haired man made his way out of the little office. He said something unintelligible to them and noticed their stares of confusion.
“Do you speak English?” the officer asked the group.
“Oh thank gosh!” the group exclaimed collectively. Their relief clearly showed on their faces.
“We were beginning to think no one on this island spoke English!” Keeley exclaimed.
“Well not many people do. I’m not from around here and I grew up speaking English. You all look, well to be blunt, you kids look like shit. From the looks on your faces something happened."
“YES!” the group cried out all at once. They quickly went into the story of the ordeal they’d been through the last few days. They were all using their arms to speak and the sheriff couldn’t help but chuckle at the scene in front of him. They were all overly excited and he decided he had better put a stop to the commotion before someone got hurt.
“Ok. Ok. Everyone calm down. I can’t understand you all at once. You, the curly-haired one,” he said and pointed at Justin, “What’s going on?” Curly did not even begin to describe Justin’s hair. They had been out in the wild for days. The mass of curls on Justin’s head had long since turned into a giant frizzy mess. The rest of the group looked just as bad. Monica had her long blonde hair tied up haphazardly in a knot. Pieces of hair were sticking out everywhere. Everyone’s clothes were filthy. Their skin was filthy. They all just wanted to go home and take a long hot shower.
“All right, here’s the deal,” Justin continued to tell about the cruise and how they had ended up on the island. He was just about to tell about them getting hold of Johnny when the CB radio crackled to life. A person could be heard talking, but the group could not understand it because it was in the native language of the island. The sheriff told them to hold on and then went to the CB. He and the person carried on a conversion for several minutes. Every once in awhile the sheriff would glance over in the group’s direction. Then he grabbed a pad and a pen and started scribbling notes. This confused the eight young adults. Finally the sheriff came back over to the group carrying the pad of paper.
“Ok this question might seem totally off the wall to you but do you know a guy named,” he looked down at the paper, scanning quickly, “Johnny Wright.” The group answered with a chorus of delighted yeses.
“Johnny is our manager,” JC answered, as usual being his levelheaded self.
“Well seems like you eight are extremely missed. He has the Coast Guard looking everywhere in the area for you. Seems to me you will be going home soon!” A chorus of cheers erupted from the group.
“But wait. What are you going to do about the guys chasing us?” Chris asked.
“Oh we will catch them and send them back to the States for prosecution.”
“How?” Cari chimed in. “You don’t even know who they are.”
“True. However, it shouldn’t be too hard. The three will stick out like a sore thumb here.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that, they are really sneaky,” Joey said.
“We want to help,” Keeley spoke up.
“Excuse me?” the sheriff asked with a shocked look on his face.
“We want to help you get them,” Monica added.
“No, that is too dangerous! I can’t put you at risk like that.”
“But it would easier. You could use us as bait,” Keeley continued. The sheriff looked at the other six to see if they agreed with the two girls. They were all nodding.
“Ok. I just hope you know what you are getting yourselves into.”
“Where the hell did they go? They were just here a minute ago!” Anthony growled as the two made their way down the center of town. He briefly stopped at each window to peer in to see if they were trying to hide.
“Well, they couldn’t have gotten too far, this town is pretty small,” Steven replied.
The continued down the street when Anthony abruptly stopped walking and ducked down. Steven was still looking into the last window they checked and almost flipped over Anthony. He came to a crashing halt next to his partner.
“Hey man, are you trying to kill me?” he exclaimed. He reached back to rub his backside, which had taken the brunt of the fall.
“Shh!! Well, looky looky! What do we have here,” Anthony said with a gleam in his eye.
“Huh? What are you talking ab…” Steven was quickly silenced when Anthony reached over and grabbed his head and turned it toward what he was staring at.
The whole group of kids they were chasing was sitting on the side of the road, next to a street vendor trying to look inconspicuous. One of the girls was lying down against one of the guys. Another guy seemed to have taken a straw hat from the vendor’s cart, and had it tipped down, in a vain attempt to cover his face.
“Nice try kids, but you’d have to get up a little earlier in the morning to fool me,” Anthony exclaimed. "Ok, here’s what we’re going to do, you cross over to the other side of the street. We’ll surprise them from both sides. There’s no way they’ll be able to escape. After all the shit they’ve put us through, this is going to be sweet revenge.”
Steven quickly and quietly made his way across the street towards the wooded area they had emerged from earlier. He made his way ahead of the group so when he was given the signal, he could get them when they tried to run from Anthony. He crouched down behind a bush, to conceal himself as best he could. A look of surprise and sheer terror ran across his face when a hand tightly slipped over his mouth. Another hand grabbed both of his wrists and forcefully pulled them behind his back. He didn’t have a chance to cry out as he was pulled away towards a nearby building.
Behind him he heard the distinct click of a door opening and a moment later he was pulled through the doorway. Steven’s eyes darted back and forth at his unfamiliar surroundings. It was all happening so fast. He felt himself be tossed into a room and heard a door drag across the floor before it slammed shut and he heard the lock click into place. It was then that he was able to get a better look of his surroundings; his fears were realized when he found himself standing in the middle of a jail cell.
Anthony stood still in the shadows provided by the edge of a building. His prey was in his sight, and this time he was not going to let them get away. It all seemed way too easy. He couldn’t believe that they were so stupid as to sit out in the open! ‘But their stupidity was his gain,’ he thought as he crept closer to the unsuspecting group.
He crept closer inch by inch without making a sound. He stopped a few feet away. ‘I can almost reach out and touch them,’ he thought as his face broke out into a grin. He was so close he could smell their unwashed bodies. He glanced over toward Steven. “Where is he?” he whispered. ‘Well if he’s going to screw around then I’ll do this myself. Maybe I will even get a bonus, or the boss will cut Steven and Brian out completely.’
Anthony readied himself to pounce on his prey. Every muscle in his body was tense as he counted down in his head. ‘One…Two…Three…’
Just as he began to make a break for the group he heard one of them shout, “Run!!” The group sprang to their feet and tore off towards the woods.
“Damn it!” Anthony cursed as he ran after the group.
Several of them had already made it to the shelter of the woods. He glanced their way when he saw them. Several police officers were hidden in the woods, their guns drawn.
‘How could this happen,’ Anthony thought to himself as he continued to chase after the group. All but two of them had made it to the woods now; his opportunity was sliding through his fingers when the most wonderful thing happened. One of the girls tripped. Her toe appeared to have hit a rock in the road. She flew through the air in what seemed like slow motion before she came crashing in a heap on the floor of the dirt street. Anthony was at her side a second later. He roughly pulled her to her feet as she was trying to stand up on her own. He dragged her away from the woods where her friends were. He finally stopped when he felt he was a safe distance away from the cops. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a six inch jagged tooth knife. He pulled the knife from its sheath and held the blade dangerously close to the girl’s neck.
As Justin made it to the edge of the woods he turned around to make sure the rest had made it as well. What he saw made the blood drain from his face. His eyes connected with his girlfriend’s and saw the look of terror written across her face. She looked utterly helpless. “Keeley!” he cried out and began to run toward her. JC reached out and grabbed Justin before he could get very far.
“J there’s a better way to help her. We don’t need you to be in danger as well,” JC told his friend.
“But we can’t just leave her with that mad man! There’s no telling what he will do!”
Anthony firmly held the blade in place against Keeley’s neck and glared hatefully at the others.
“Let the girl go! You’re just digging yourself deeper!” one of the officers yelled at him.
Anthony sneered at the men. “You know, at this point I really don’t care. These kids have put me through hell the last few days, and it’s pay back time.”
Keeley felt the blade push into her throat harder and felt a searing pain. A moment later she felt a drop of warm liquid flow down her neck.
‘He’s going to kill me,’ she thought as she glanced down and saw a drop of blood soak into her shirt. Fear gripped her as she stood helplessly in the arms of their stalker. Thoughts of all she’d hoped to accomplish in her life flashed through her mind like scenes of a movie, the wedding she would never have, the child she would never give life to, the career she would never have. Silent tears trickled down her cheeks.
“Please…” she whispered. “Don’t hurt me.”
He couldn’t just stand there and watch the horrifying scene unfold before him. Justin had to help Keeley. As the officers were trying to speak reason to Anthony he grabbed Joey’s arm and gently tugged. Joey shifted his eyes from their attacker and glanced at Justin. He saw the look of determination on his friend’s face as Justin motioned for him to follow.
Silently the two stepped out of view behind the officers and made their way through the dense foliage. Once they were behind Anthony they stopped. Justin turned to Joey and quickly whispered his plan. They moved across the street quietly. Anthony was too distracted by the officers to notice the two men who were just feet behind him.
“If you let her go now, things will go a lot easier for you. We’ll work out a deal for you, less prison time. If you hurt her you will go to prison and there will be no leniency for you!” the officer shouted back.
The look on Anthony’s face faltered for a moment and question passed over it. The muscles in his back and arms slightly relaxed as the words being spoken to him began to sink in.
That small moment of doubt was what Justin had been waiting for. He saw Anthony ease off his grip on his girlfriend. He jumped forward grabbing the arm that held the knife to Keeley’s neck. Joey dove and hit the man in his middle with all of his weight.
Anthony was caught completely off guard. He let out a cry of surprise and swung around to face his attackers. He let go of Keeley to raise his arms to fight back. She scrambled to the safety and protection of the nearby officers and her friends.
Justin swung his fist with all of his might and heard the crunching sound it made when it slammed into Anthony’s nose. Anthony’s hands flew up to his face to cradle his broken nose. A cry of pain escaped his lips as he was impaled again with Justin’s fist, this time to his stomach. Hatred glared through Anthony’s eyes as he raised his knife to fight back. His hand came slashing down towards Justin’s face. Justin’s arms flew up to protect his face from the blade. In mid-air the blade came to a halt when Joey grabbed Anthony’s arm and twisted it behind his back. The pain in Anthony’s shoulder from being twisted caused him to drop the knife; it clattered as it hit the ground. Joey grabbed Anthony’s other arm and twisted it behind his back as well. Anthony’s head hung forward with defeat. He knew there was nothing more he could do to fight back.
The officers came rushing forward from the woods. The sheriff reached them first and quickly clipped his handcuffs around Anthony’s wrists. He looked at Justin and Joey and spoke a word of thanks. He was met without protest as he roughly escorted Anthony towards the jail.
The rest of the group came out of the woods and joined the sheriff.
“Well two down, one to go,” the sheriff said as he patted a very worried looking Chris on the back.
“And we are going to get the last one how?” JC asked.
“Well we have people out looking for him in the woods. We are just hoping for the best. Don’t worry, we will find him,” the sheriff continued. A rustling sound could be heard coming from the area the group had just vacated moments before. Brian came tumbling out of the woods almost on command. His ankle was still swollen and he looked like he was in a lot of pain.
“Oh my gosh,” Cari gasped. The sheriff got several of the other policemen’s attention. Brian looked up and realized what he had gotten himself into. He was too tired and in too much pain to even care at that point. He fell to his knees and just gave up. He didn’t even put up a fight as the police placed the handcuffs around his wrists. They helped him up and helped support him on his way to the police station. As the officers were making their way down the road the sheriff turned and told the group to come to the police station after they had time to calm down.
Meanwhile, Justin ran over to Keeley and swooped her up into his arms. She clung to him as he gently stroked her hair with his hand. He sat down and pulled her onto his lap. He reached up to her neck and gently applied pressure to the wound the knife had inflicted. Her shaking slowly died as he rocked her back and forth.
“I thought I was going to lose you,” he spoke softly.
“Me too,” she replied. She pulled him closer to her and snuggled into his chest. She finally felt safe.
Several minutes later the two were still sitting on the side of the road in the same position. Brian had already been taken to the station and the rest of the group was standing around trying to calm down as the sheriff had instructed. Everyone was still pretty nervous, but relief could be seen on everyone’s faces, everyone that is except for Justin and Keeley. Justin’s face was still as white as a ghost, he continued to cling to Keeley as if his, and her, life depended on it. Lance felt sorry for them but he knew that the two couldn’t stay out on the street all night. He also knew Keeley’s neck had been bleeding earlier and they need to get her cut looked at. Justin’s hand probably needed some ice on it.
“Guys we should go down to the sheriff’s soon,” Lance spoke.
“Give us a minute,” Justin replied. He had come so close to losing her, and he didn’t want to let Keeley go.
Finally a few minutes later the two rose to their feet and walked over to join the rest of their friends. Monica walked over to Keeley and pulled her friend into a hug.
“I’m so glad you’re ok,” she told her friend.
“Thank you,” Keeley replied.
A couple minutes later the group came to a stop in front of the police station. They pulled the heavy wooden door open and were greeted by the smiles of the officers.
“Well look who’s here!” The sheriff shouted as he walked over and extended his hand to Justin. The two shook hands, followed by Joey. “What you two did was very brave…very stupid, but very brave.”
“Uh thanks, I think,” Justin responded. The group broke out into laughter at the confused look on Justin’s face.
“I just got off the phone with your friend Johnny and filled him in on what’s happened. He told me that he’s arranged for a helicopter to pick you all up tomorrow morning.”
“Oh thank gosh,” Cari exclaimed. “I can’t wait to get back to civilization!” As the realization of what she’d just said hit her she looked sheepishly at the sheriff. “I uh…not to say that this isn’t…I mean this place is great, but…”
The sheriff looked at her and smiled as she stumbled over what she was trying to say. “Don’t worry, I know what you mean. I’m sure you’re looking forward to seeing your families.”
“Yeah, that’s what I meant,” Cari replied. Her face was still red.
“Well, you’ll need a place to stay tonight. Our little village doesn’t have any hotels, but you all are more than welcome to stay at my house with my wife and I. It’s no five star resort but I think you’ll find it much more appealing than your accommodations the last few days,” spoke the sheriff.
“Thank you so much, but are you sure it’s not an inconvenience?” JC asked.
“It’s no inconvenience at all. And besides, where else are you going to stay, I’m not going to have it get back to the states that I made Nsync sleep outside!”
They all burst into laughter at the thought of the headlines that would produce.
“Well we accept your invitation, thank you so much,” Monica said when she had finally controlled her laughter. The sheriff just shook his head at the group’s antics. He walked over to Keeley and Justin and stepped in between the two and put his arms around both of their shoulders.
“Now as for you two, let’s go get some ice for that fist of your and a couple of bandages for that cut,” the sheriff said and lead the two to behind the counter to a back room that had first aid equipment. When both Keeley and Justin had been doctored up, the group including the sheriff left for the sheriff’s home. It was close by so they all walked. On the way there the young adults chatted about getting to go home and sleep in their own beds.
“Right now I want a long hot bubble bath and then just to crawl into my bed and stay there for days,” Monica professed to the group. Everyone quickly agreed with her.
“Well I can’t offer enough beds for everyone but we do have plenty of blankets, a couch, and some chairs. I can promise you all a hot shower and a good home cooked meal though. I have already called my wife to let her know the situation and she was going to get the beds set up and make a good hot supper for you all.”
“We really do appreciate this,” JC said as his stomach growled at the mention of food.
“Geesh I had almost forgotten how hungry I was until you mentioned food!” Justin chuckled.
“Wow Keeley you have accomplished a miracle. You worried Justin so much he forgot about food!” Joey laughed. The rest of the group groaned at Joey’s crazy remark.
Later that evening the group had settled in the living room of the sheriff’s home after a home-cooked meal provided by his wife.
“That was the best meal I’ve ever eaten!” Chris said as he leaned back in his chair and placed his hands on his full belly.
“You are an amazing cook,” Joey added.
“Thank you, I’m so glad you liked it,” their hostess replied as she smiled at the group of satisfied looking young people around her.
The hours of the evening passed by as the group shared stories about how their group had formed, and the crazy times they’d had on the road. The girls each told how they’d met the guys, and shared a few stories of their own. When they were finished most of the guys wore red faces of embarrassment.
“Man this is worse than when my mom would go to family reunions and show my naked baby pictures to my relatives,” Justin groaned. Keeley had just finished telling a story about how the day she and Justin had met. Justin had done a canon ball off the diving board and resurfaced without any shorts.
“You know you love the attention,” Keeley teased. Justin rolled his eyes and looked to his friends for help. After a few moments he realized no one was going to come to his rescue and he sat back in defeat.
“Well enough about all of us, how did the two of you meet?” Cari asked the sheriff and his wife.
“We met back in college in the states,” his wife replied.
“Are you from the US?” Monica asked with interest.
“Oh no, I’m from this small island, but my father wanted me to get a college education and learn English so he sent me to America,” she replied.
“What about you, are you from America?” JC asked the sheriff.
“Yes I am. Like my wife said, we met in college our senior year. I was studying law enforcement, and she told me about her hometown. It sounded like a great place so after we graduated and got married we moved back here. After we’d been here for about a year, the old sheriff retired and I got the position. And the rest, as they say, is history.”
The group continued to visit until a chorus of yawns began. JC glanced down at his watch and was surprised to see how late it was. The sheriff noticed the tired looks on everyone’s faces and stood up and stretched.
“Well, we’d better hit the sack. You all have a big day ahead of you and you’ll need your rest,” the sheriff said as his wife stood to join them. They rounded up all the extra pillows and blankets from around the house and tried to make the group as comfortable as possible. They said their goodnights and headed down the hall to their room.
The next morning the group awoke to the aroma of breakfast drifting through the house. Keeley got up from her spot on the ground that she had slept and rubbed her eyes as she walked into the kitchen.
“Can I help you with anything?” she asked as she looked hungrily at the food being prepared.
“Sure dear, why don’t you take the food that’s done into the dining room.”
A few minutes later the food was done and everyone had wandered into the dining room to see what was causing the delicious smells. Once they had all eaten and the table was cleared they picked up the blankets from the living room.
They each took turns taking hot showers. They could only have a couple minutes each so they all could enjoy the hot water. The patience was running short throughout the entire group. Every one was dirty and nasty and they all wanted to take their time in the shower plus everyone else’s.
“Girls go first!” Cari shouted and started off towards the bathroom. JC grabbed her around the waist on her way past him.
“Like heck! Gender difference doesn’t make a difference right now.” Justin retorted. All the girls complained and the guys all whined. They were all trying to climb over each other and so far Lance was already lying on the floor and holding onto Keeley’s ankle stopping her. Joey was holding Chris up against the wall. JC still had a hold of Cari’s waist. Justin had picked Monica up and was holding up her upside down. Finally the sheriff’s wife suggested that they draw straws before someone got hurt. Everyone agreed and let everyone else go. They drew straws and JC won. He got in and stayed a little over his time but not enough for people to start whining too bad. Cari, then Joey and then Chris went. They were all relatively fast. Monica was next followed by Keeley. While Keeley was in the shower Justin laid on floor and begged for Keeley to hurry up as he was next.
“Geez Justin grow up,” Keeley said as she stepped over her boyfriend when she got out of the shower. Just as soon as Keeley has completely stepped over Justin, he jumped up and ran into the bathroom. Justin stayed in the shower and stayed in the shower. Lance who was the next had been banging on the door for about 5 minutes and he had gotten fed up. Lance checked the door and found that in Justin’s haste to get in the shower he did not lock the door. Lance decided to go on in.
“Oh Justin,” Lance called out when he walked into the room. Justin peeked his head around the shower curtain.
“Lance…what are you doing,” he asked when he saw that Lance was standing next to the toilet with his hand on the handle. Lance gave him an evil look and before Justin had time to react Lance flushed the toilet. Justin screamed and took off flying out of the shower. He stood in the hall completely naked. The entire group had come running to see why Justin was screaming and were all greeted with the sight of the naked Justin.
“ACK! I AM BLIND!” Chris screamed and fell over. JC reached over and covered Cari’s eyes. Keeley reached over and covered Monica’s eyes. Suddenly Lance threw Justin’s clothes and a towel at Justin and slammed the door in Justin’s face and locked it. Justin was bright red by this time and turned and ran down the hall to find a room to get dressed in.
Finally everyone was showered and dressed. Even though everyone had to put back on their dirty clothes they felt a little better.
“Well kids it’s about time to get you back into town. Johnny should be here soon,” the sheriff told them. The group all repeatedly thanked their host and hostess before they left. Finally the sheriff and the group left for the town. They all gathered outside the police station and waited for the helicopter since it would be landing near by. They sat on the ground and continued to talk about the thrill of going home.
About half an hour later the helicopter landed and the group ran over to it. Johnny hopped out and hugged all eight of them individually. Johnny was definitely a sight for sore eyes. The entire group began to try to tell Johnny stories about what had been going on.
“People, people, calm down! I can’t understand you when you all talk at once! We have a long flight home. I want to know all about it on the way. We will go in just a sec.” Johnny walked over and thanked the sheriff.
“Thanks so much for taking care of these kids for me. They are almost like family. Half the time I feel like their father…the other half I feel like a referee.”
“Oh I understand that. You should have been there for shower time this morning.” Johnny gave the sheriff a weird look. “Believe me you don’t want to know,” the sheriff laughed.
“You are probably right. Well thank you again. I guess I should get them home. Their families are all worried.” The two shook hands and Johnny walked back to the group standing next to the helicopter. The eight young adults waved to the sheriff and the girls blew him kisses. The nine piled into the helicopter. They were very cramped. JC and Chris ended up sitting on the floor and Keeley sat in Justin’s lap.
“Well guys let’s go home!” Johnny said as the helicopter was taking off.
Keeley stared out the window of the helicopter and watched the little island get smaller and smaller. Her hand rose to her neck and touched the scab that had formed where the knife had pierced her skin just the day before. A small sigh escaped her lips as she thought about all they had been through.
“Hon, whatcha thinking about?” Justin whispered in her ear.
The sound of his voice brought her back to reality and she looked over her shoulder and into his eyes. “I was just thinking about going home. We’re finally going home.”